All's well that ends well following what could have been a deadly emergency on Sunday when a helicopter with three people aboard made a hard landing in a remote wooded area west of Sundre.
“The three occupants were all recovered,” said fire Chief Marty Butts during a Monday morning phone interview with the Round Up.
They all seemed to be in pretty good shape when they jumped out of the helicopter that recovered them, he said.
Several members of the local fire department had mobilized to assist in the search and rescue operation following the report of the helicopter coming down at about 11:30 a.m.
“We had a good sized crew out there,” said Butts.
However, the helicopter came down near Ice Lake — which is roughly located between Sundre and Lake Louise — in a remote wooded area that is only accessible by horseback or helicopter. Since the firefighters were unable to reach the remote site, they set up a staging area and coordinated the search efforts with EMS, RCMP and Alberta's Forestry division, he said.
“It was a good outcome — those usually aren't very good when you're responding to a crash,” the fire chief said, adding he was glad everything worked out well.
RCMP media spokesperson Cpl. Hal Turnbull said CFB Trenton received a call at 11:27 a.m. regarding a helicopter carrying three souls that had come in for a hard landing near the Mountain Aire Lodge. The immediate response included a coordinated effort among RCMP, EMS, STARS and the Sundre Fire Department. As the downed helicopter could not initially be located, additional assistance from Alberta Forestry was requested and the Department of National Defence also conducted flyovers in the area, he said.
The staging area was established by first responders near the lodge, and by about 2:30 p.m., the downed helicopter and its occupants had been located uninjured. The scene of the crash was on Barrier Mountain near Ice Lake and the headwaters of the Panther River, he said.
The three individuals in the helicopter were enjoying a pleasure ride, and had departed earlier that day from the Springbank Airport. There were no injuries reported, and the occupants evacuated the aircraft after landing. The pilot had sent out the distress signal, which was initially responded to by another pilot in a passing plane, who relayed the call for help to 911, he said.
While the investigation was still ongoing when Turnbull spoke with the Round Up on Monday morning, he said the initial impression was that the helicopter was already coming in for a landing when it encountered difficulties.
“They didn't drop from a great height.”
